Back stories

Antarctic scientist Andrew Davidson explains how phytoplankton participate in setting our planet chemistry. I trace and animate his gestures. I set the animation to a song improvised by Spooky Man Stephen Taberner as he plays double bass. The song speaks of love and money and I imagine the voice of phytoplankton from the Southern Ocean.

"...So, the organisms I work with are... they have a value in their own right... they are... as individuals they... can do some extraordinary things... but really the most important roles they play are... are when they are involved in... linking processes... so... the contribution that they make to... trophic levels... you start off with small stuff that get eaten... by bigger stuff... that transfers all the way through... to whales and seals and penguins... and that sort of thing... that goes from... from phytoplankton to... particulate matter... that sinks out of the water... it produces... things like dimethyl sulphide... which are a gas that goes into the atmosphere... and forms clouds... really the importance of these organisms... they're beautiful in their own right... as you know... I'm sure you've seen some of them... their primary importance is in fact... in the way in which they participate... in all the processes... that actually set... our planetary chemistry... and... keep our ecology running... and all those sorts of things." Dr Andrew Davidson, Australian Antarctic Division, 2015